


what a lovely day for an exorcism

by ElijahDarling



Category: For the People (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Demons Are Assholes, Everyone is an exorcist, F/M, Gen, The Exorcist AU, but that's not required, honestly this will probably make more sense if you've watched at least season one of the exorcist, the Jill/Roger content is mostly implied
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-17 09:50:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16514051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElijahDarling/pseuds/ElijahDarling
Summary: "Sister Sandra huffed and wished for their visiting priest to wake and save her from door duty. Mother Jill always told her that yanking at her chain like a dog staked in the yard only choked her in the end. This probably meant that Sandra could learn some patience. The demon they’d been exorcizing had taken that moment to sleaze out that Sandra would look good chained out in the yard."Father Nicholas is in town to recover after a possession gone awry. Sandra is babysitting.





	what a lovely day for an exorcism

**Author's Note:**

> I have no excuse for this. I just finished watching The Exorcist tv series and then I was reminded I still have to write an On Duty fic contribution while demons were on my brain.

She’d been strictly ordered to stay outside of their guest’s door. Sandra doesn’t think Mother Jill intended it as a punishment - the Mother wouldn’t hesitate to rip her a new one for even suggesting that. She’d probably even waste a precious five minutes of her hour to do it. Mother Jill wasn’t the sort to let a vow of silence stop her from managing anyone in the convent. The hour a day she was allowed to speak was reserved for two things lately: exorcisms, and telling Sandra she was out of line. (Even Rabbi Roger had taken to sign language and notes and text messages, rather than argue with his friend and rob them of their time.)

 

Sister Sandra huffed and wished for their visiting priest to wake and save her from door duty. Mother Jill always told her that yanking at her chain like a dog staked in the yard only choked her in the end. This probably meant that Sandra could learn some patience. The demon they’d been exorcizing had taken that moment to sleaze out that Sandra would look good chained out in the yard. One of her Sisters had grasped her hand tight; Mother Jill had looked hard into the beast’s face. “Enough of that now, unwelcome thing. Fallen angel, you are forgiven.”

 

He’d snarled. “And you -  _ Holy  _ Mother, you’ve more lust and wrath in you than in any of your nubile charges here. And with a Jew? Tsk.”

 

Demons. Misogynistic. Anti-semitic. Unoriginal.

 

She’s shaken from her stupor with the opening of their guest’s door. Father Nicholas Byrne walks out and blinks at her presence. There is a hint of annoyance in him. Sandra blinks at him in feigned benign ignorance. She is no more happy to be stuck with the wayward exorcist than he is to be stuck with her.

 

“Shall we?” 

 

He sighs and signals her to lead on.

 

* * *

 

They save the possessed man. She watches Father Nicholas weep as he puts his forehead to the demon’s and promise him that he isn’t beyond God’s love. A complete turnabout from earlier, when he’d seemed intent to rip the demon out with nothing but his will and possibly his bare hands.

 

Father Nicholas thanks Mother Jill - she smiles at him, and silently hands him an envelope. (Her hour is up.)

 

He reads it, his eyebrows creeping steadily up his face until Sister Sandra fancies they might permanently flee to his hairline. “Her?” He asks, incredulous. 

 

Mother Jill nods. Sandra could almost swear she hears him growl in response.

 

He turns to her. “Pack a bag. Pack  _ lightly _ .”

 

“Why? Where am I going with you?”

 

“Apparently,” he taps the letter in his hand against the palm of his other. “I’m to train you to be an exorcist.”

 

Mother Jill pointedly clears her throat. He frowns.

 

“And you’ll benefit me. Somehow.”

 

Sandra doesn’t hesitate. After months of choking herself on a chain, she’ll happily enter a mentorship with the traveling exorcist - even a huffy one. She goes to pack a bag. 

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: I just realized I'm not posting more of this so you guys get to hear my headcanon for this universe. So Nicholas is recovering from the fact that after he retired from being an exorcist, one came to his door in the form of possessing his assistant (and a woman he'd begun having feelings for) - during the exorcism, all this came to light in a traumatizing way and he left his parish. Sandra joined the convent years after being possessed and saved (though she killed her mother during that possession, so angst angst angst), but feels overprotected in the convent. Jill knows that this isn't the environment where Sandra can truly thrive, and that it would do good to give her old friend Nicholas a protege if only to keep him from going on a dangerous suicidal vendetta against demons. If I were to write more of this we'd probably see them meeting Seth and Allison, a seemingly normal couple until it becomes obvious that one of them is hosting a demon. Sandra develops feelings for Allison, and watching her struggle with those feelings helps Father Nicholas comes to term with his own recent trauma. Jill and Roger meanwhile have the makings of an interesting joke that starts with "a nun and a rabbi walk into a diner" and the punchline is just them being in love but Jill is dedicated to exorcisms.
> 
> I did not want to write all ten thousand words of this. You get this author's note instead. [/edit]
> 
> I'm ElijahDarling on Tumblr. You should come talk with me.


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